Terrible, Horrible luck TT wise. My fault though...anything I can do?

[Awokenotwoke]

An alternative to changing trucks until the lease is up, is to contract the trailer haul to a camp spot. This way you can pay a few hundred $$ to a person with the correct size truck each way and use the TT without changing trucks until the lease is up. Just a thought.

 

[njjeff201]

My D Bag salesman in Scranton, PA stopped talking to me after sale was closed. Most if not all sales clowns are liers & morons.

 

[jejb]

You will be able to pull it, slowly at first, but stopping , side winds ,lane changes is where things can go to hell fast , if you don't know what you are doing.

Getting passed by large trucks can be a white knuckle/dangerous thing with a non-ideal setup too. You are smart to come here for guidance. Don't risk you or your kids life's by pulling a dangerous load down the highway.

 

[Andersoncma]

You wouldn’t think towing with a 1500 (1/2ton) would be much different with a 2500 (3/4 ton)……but let me tell you, the difference is night and day. I was scared to death pulling my 10K lb TT with my 1500, after getting a 2500 to pull it, that 2500 (bagged, 6.7 Cummins, 21” wheels, tuner, leveling kit) pulled it at 75 MPH down the interstate and it will almost make you think you’re not towing anything at all.

 

[NH RAM]

As mentioned, salespersons look at the max towing for a truck and nothing else, they don't really know the towing abilities of the trucks, and that goes for truck and RV dealers. My first TT they were telling me I could tow 10k with my 1500, but I knew that to be false since I had 3.21 gears. I started with a 26' trailer and moved up to a 31' trailer; the 31' was enough for the 1500 and at 7500# I felt that it was maxed out based on performance and towing specs.
Your dream trailer will not work with your current truck, it's simply far too heavy and it's a very long trailer, which would be difficult to control.
To be honest, I'm glad you found that you have 3.21 gears because if you had 3.92 gears, you may have felt okay trying to tow that based on the towing numbers, but it's too much for a truck that light. Your experience would have been miserable.
Try to find a trailer with a gvwr under your max towing; the unloaded weight isn't as important.
Best of luck!

 

[naclty1]

I have a 2020 Hideout 28RKS and tow that with a 2021 Ram 2500 6.4l Hemi, crew cab, Tradesman. The trailer is 6850lbs, truck is max payload 3111, max tow 14,260. Before I bought the 2500 I had a 08 Titan Pro4X that would tow the trailer but not well, EXTREMELY short trips for the first year of having the trailer before upgrading the truck. The 2500 doesn’t even know that trailer is behind it except for the drop in gas mileage, no surprise there. Don’t know if that helps you but I thought I’d offer my real world experience to date.

 

[ICHILLU]

Well, I tend to agree with a bunch of these comments re truck size... but will weigh in on some of the comments re towing capacity... See the attached chart... I have a 2017 Ram 1500 4x4 that i ordered in late 2016 - with a plan to tow a 31 Ft 5th Wheel Trailer... the truck was ordered with pretty much everything but the kitchen sink, - trailer tow pkg, trailer brake control, air suspension, and an 8 speed trans with a 3.92 rear end gear. Our trailer is 9,800 lbs per the rating plate on the trailer - and I'm sure that it tows more than that considering what my wife loads into it. I have taken many shorter 250 mile (400 km) trips per year, and 2 very long trips - one to Dryden Ontario from London Ontario, Canada, and to Prince Edward Island (both trips are at least 2,000 km (1,200 miles) one way... with no issues - truck in tow mode runs 2100 rpm @ 55 mph (90 Km/h) and does not constantly shift in and out of OD. The big difference between this truck and my 2011 was the 6 spd to 8 spd trans change... both were 3.92 rear gears... with the same trailer. I have pulled a 34 ft TT to the Michigan Nascar races with the 2017 truck - yes - it was like pulling a stump... but no control/maneuvering issues when properly equipped with the equalizing hitch... the long chassis (crew cab) with the 6'4'" box makes a considerable difference in towing (the '11 was a Quad Cab 4x4 - 6'4" box).
In summary... if you are willing to spend almost $110K CDN on a 2500 for an occasional outing - go for it... And FYI, Dealers do not know how to order a pickup truck for real towing purposes... Best way is to factory order it... Good luck...

 

[turkeybird56]

Have to agree with everyone else here. That kind of weight on a bumper pull is a bit much, but the biggest problem I see is the length. Even with the proper WDH and setup, that is too much length and weight for the 1500. You could be setting up for a really big "tail waggin the dog" scenario.

DITTO , EXTREME ditto on what others have said. Either go way down on yer TT, or go up on yer truck to a 2500, U may even be in the 3500 range, if U want to Pull a 40' over 10,000 lb trailer. NEVER listen to idjut sales PPL, they make money by SELLING U A truck,. !!!!!

 

[Jim 370]

I now have a 2018 2500 6.4L, but as Ichillu said, I had nothing but 1/2T's for decades and I pulled 10K many times. I had several upgrades to make towing 10K relatively easy. I had a load distributing receiver hitch that ties the hitch in with the axle (takes load off frame and purts it directly on the axle). I upgraded the tires to "E" range. I put heavy duty shocks on all the way around. Then I installed air springs on the rear axle. I've never ran less than a 3.92:1 gear in any truck. Several times a year I pulled more than 10K on very short trips around town. A cord of green White Oak weighs approximately 5,000 (+/- 500) and I used to regularly deliver 2 cords at a time on a 20'lg trailer that weight over 4,000 (14,000 total) in my 1995 Dodge Ram 1500 Xcab with no issues. I even used this setup to deliver wood when all the roads were covered in ice. It was very stable and confident.

 

[CaptOchs]

This is why I hated shopping for trucks. No salesman actually knew what the capacity truly was. It should be on the window sticker. I drove a half hour away to look at one that supposedly had a "towing package." I got there and saw it only had a flat-4 light connection. He said since it had a trailer hitch it had a tow package. When I looked up the actual rating, it was in the 6,000 range. I looked at sooooo many trying to find one. Some of the ones I found had an excessive amount of rust, dents, scratches. One dealer was trying to sell a truck with snow tires on it in the middle of June! Legally you couldn't drive it off the lot. He would "sell" me new tires but of course that added over $1000 to the price. I ended up going an hour away from my city to a place out in the sticks. Found a truck with all the specs and it was in great condition. It was owned by an older guy who babied it. Had low mileage. I feel your pain. Shopping for trucks suck because you have to research every one you look at. The wrong choice could leave you with a truck you unfortunately can't tow with. I'm surprised the RV dealer didn't stop you. The last couple times I purchased a RV the dealer asked me questions about my truck before they broke out the paperwork. If your max tow is 8200, you're probably looking for RVs in the 5700-6500 range.

 

[fkingpsuce]

I guess I got lucky with my RV sales crew. My tow rig is (soon to be was) a Durango SRT and they made me prove that the tow rating was actually 8700#. They even brought out a scale and gave me the actual hitch weight so we could calculate the tongue weight.

 

[Irishthreeper]

Truck shopping has gotten difficult and expensive but I got very lucky 18 months ago while looking for a 2500 Hemi to tow my 5W with. It hit the dealership on a given day and they agreed to hold it till the next day. 21’ Tradesman with about 9k in options including 5W prep, tow mirrors, 4.10’s, sprayed liner, etc. The right truck is out there for about anybody, just check on line or call every day.
Back to truck or RV sales people…don’t ever take their word or ads as gospel, do your homework as others have said on here. Many 5W’s are advertised as half-ton towable, it’s even written on the front of one brand. The hitch weight alone on one was 1550 lbs and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to estimate what kind PL you’d be packing when all was said and done.

 

[Hobobob]

Agree with most poster's here. I upgraded from a 1500 to a 2500 so I didn't have to keep leaving stuff behind on a trip because I was easily exceeding the PAYLOAD capacity of about 1300 lbs. Interesting to see many answers still only talk about the towing capacity of 10, 11, 12 thousand lbs but say little to nothing about the PAYLOAD capacity of the truck. Look at the little yellow sticker in the drivers door frame. That will be the number you will easily go over before you reach the towing capacity number. My little 23' Lance TT has a tongue rate exceeding 900 lbs. Note - Lance listed my 2017 hitch weight as 550!! Now add the people you carry, your dog, the stuff in the bed of the truck, the WDH, all the aftermarket accessories you added and you can see how quickly you can exceed the payload limits. Get a 2500 if you want to safely tow your desired TT around the country.

 

[Daddyhas2boys]

If you haven't taken delivery of the truck then don't, most states have laws regarding delivery as driving off the lot once paperwork has been signed...just saying

 

[Bj0480]

Alright, so I LEASED a truck. I went and picked it out based really on existing stock - because thats what was there, and in this climate thats the options I had.
I ended up with a 5.7 Hemi 2022 Black edition. Super happy with it, chose it because the sales guy was telling me I could pull 11,700lbs with it (and the whole reason I wanted a truck was to get a TT).
Today, after months and months of searching, negotiating...I find my TT, put my paperwork in, all is good. Was planning on driving the 5 hours to go get it during this upcoming weekend.
I looked a long while, because I REALLY wanted a place my kids could call 'home' more than just a dinette that folded out, or a jacknife sofa. I settled on a MR338BHS. It's a heavy beast, but I wasn't worried. I didn't anticipate driving all over, as the truck is a lease - but perhaps a few intrastate trips, even parking it at local spots just to enjoy some time away from the kids mother (we're no longer together). Huge perk of my job is I can work from anywhere, and I sometimes travel - so I also figured on semi-local trips I'd tow the thing to the job site, and save on hotel, flight, food expenses while 'on-site'...while enjoying my own 'home away from home'. Win/Win/Win.
After talking to the salesperson about the weight...her hesitation was warranted - 10,700 is the weight of the trailer. Her concern was I'd be overweighting myself, and fair enough - but I've got two small children and no significant other, so payload should be alright - and I live fairly minimally, but would use this thing as an off-grid home replacement - so I'm not pretending I need to pack up all the outdoor activity things, the coolers full of XYZ, the fishing gear, the bikes....
So just to confirm, I go on the RAM website....I see the VIN lookup for towing capacity....type in my VIN and realize -
I've got the 3.28 gears.
Anything I can do about it... or back to the drawing board, while hating my salesman for not knowing jack **** about my truck?!

I have a 2020 5.7. I tow a 24ft hybrid TT that's about 4 to 7000lbs with minimal issues. You can go up to 12000 with the class 5 receiver hitch

 

[dhay13]

Well, I tend to agree with a bunch of these comments re truck size... but will weigh in on some of the comments re towing capacity... See the attached chart... I have a 2017 Ram 1500 4x4 that i ordered in late 2016 - with a plan to tow a 31 Ft 5th Wheel Trailer... the truck was ordered with pretty much everything but the kitchen sink, - trailer tow pkg, trailer brake control, air suspension, and an 8 speed trans with a 3.92 rear end gear. Our trailer is 9,800 lbs per the rating plate on the trailer - and I'm sure that it tows more than that considering what my wife loads into it. I have taken many shorter 250 mile (400 km) trips per year, and 2 very long trips - one to Dryden Ontario from London Ontario, Canada, and to Prince Edward Island (both trips are at least 2,000 km (1,200 miles) one way... with no issues - truck in tow mode runs 2100 rpm @ 55 mph (90 Km/h) and does not constantly shift in and out of OD. The big difference between this truck and my 2011 was the 6 spd to 8 spd trans change... both were 3.92 rear gears... with the same trailer. I have pulled a 34 ft TT to the Michigan Nascar races with the 2017 truck - yes - it was like pulling a stump... but no control/maneuvering issues when properly equipped with the equalizing hitch... the long chassis (crew cab) with the 6'4'" box makes a considerable difference in towing (the '11 was a Quad Cab 4x4 - 6'4" box).
In summary... if you are willing to spend almost $110K CDN on a 2500 for an occasional outing - go for it... And FYI, Dealers do not know how to order a pickup truck for real towing purposes... Best way is to factory order it... Good luck...

Good info but I can almost guarantee you are way over on your GRAWR. Most 1500's are in the 3900lb range and with a 9300lb TT we had 4160 on the rear axle

 

[NH RAM]

I have a 2020 5.7. I tow a 24ft hybrid TT that's about 4 to 7000lbs with minimal issues. You can go up to 12000 with the class 5 receiver hitch

The 1500's should have a Class IV receiver, not V. According to FCA, tongue weight is limited to 1100 pounds. Your trailer is in the sweet spot for the 1500's, it pulls very nicely.

 

[scausey]

If you still like gran design. They have several rv’s design to be towed by a 1/2 ton truck. Or if you don’t want to go smaller you will need to change trucks.

 

[HickoryC]

It wouldn't be just tail-wagging coming down a steep hill or bridge. It would be Disaster with that rig. I agree with everyone. Your camper trailer needs to be 5,000 pounds max; and probably less. Rain, snow, high winds could be just as bad.

 

[Ratman6161]

I have a 2020 5.7. I tow a 24ft hybrid TT that's about 4 to 7000lbs with minimal issues. You can go up to 12000 with the class 5 receiver hitch

No, you can't go up to 12,000! With a minimimum of 10% tongue weight, that's 1200 pounds. Most travel trailers are more than 10%...mine is 13.8% so if it were 12k, that would be 1656 tongue weight. My GMC Sierra 1500 only had a payload of 1650 even before I started adding accessories. I traded that in on my Ram 2500 + 6.4 + 4.10's and my TT is only 7051 empty and 7600 loaded.